'We Believe . . .'

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. - Acts 15:11

    Peter was an apostle of Christ. The words he spoke at the Jerusalem conference, like those which he wrote in his epistles, were inspired by God the Holy Spirit (15:28). The words of Acts 15:11, being inspired of God, are recorded for our learning and admonition. The apostle stood and said, 'We believe. . .' He spoke with bold, unbending, unyielding, uncompromising dogmatism. Speaking as an apostle of Christ, Peter was not speaking for himself alone, but for all the apostles, all the church of God, all true gospel preachers and all true Christians. When he said, 'We believe,' he was saying, 'This is the truth of God. It must be believed by all. Anything contrary to this is heresy, damnable and destructive to men's souls. This is what all true Christians believe. Those who do not believe and teach this are not Christians.' This then is the doctrine of God: 'We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.' With regard to this gospel doctrine of salvation by grace alone we must be perfectly clear in our understanding, unhesitating in our witness and intolerant of any deviation from the message of God's pure, free, sovereign, effectual grace in Christ. This is an apostolic confession of faith. Concerning less important issues God's saints may and do differ and yet remain in essential harmony and fellowship. No one has a perfect knowledge of divine truth. But the gospel doctrine of salvation by grace alone is vital. With regard to this vital issue the doctrine of the church is stated plainly. 'We believe that we shall be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, even as they.' All who deviate from this deviate from the doctrine of the apostles and from Christ himself!

    The apostles of Christ obviously did not believe much of what is taught today about the way of salvation. Peter's statement is complete. It includes all that is vital to the souls of men. But some things are obviously and deliberately omitted.

    There is no mention of any religious ritual or ceremony. The two ordinances which Christ left us, baptism and the Lord's Supper, are important aspects of worship and obedience. Believer's baptism is the believer's public confession of faith in, and allegiance to, Christ (Rom. 6:4-6). The Lord's Supper is the church's celebration of redemption by Christ, a symbolic picture of the gospel and a visible reminder of our Saviour's glorious person and work (1 Cor. 11:24-26). No mention is made of personal obedience to the law of God. That was the issue at the Jerusalem conference. Surely, if obedience to the law had any bearing upon salvation, sanctification, or our relationship to God, Peter would have mentioned it here. But we are not under the law and must never attempt to put any believer under the yoke of bondage (15:10). There is no mention of personal righteousness. The creed of the world is: 'Do the best you can and God will accept you.' To deny that creed is treason against human pride. Every child of Adam is born a Pharisee. Self-righteousness is bred in us. It will manifest itself in time. But those who promote self righteousness are guilty of treason towards God.

    Perish all thoughts of human pride,

    Let God alone be magnified!

    And no mention is made of man's free will. It is true that all believers choose Christ, trust Christ and come to Christ. But it is heretical to assert that man's free will is the cause of God's saving grace (John 1:11-13; Rom. 9:15-18; 2 Tim. 1:9).

    Peter's doctrine is the doctrine of grace. He tells us that salvation is, from beginning to end, all of grace. This is the doctrine of Christ and his apostles. This is the doctrine of the Bible. Any denial of the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is a denial of the gospel of Christ. All attempts to mix grace and works is antichrist. Seven things are implied and taught in Peter's words.

    1. The sovereignty of God's grace

    He tells us that saving grace belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives it to whom he will (John 5:21; 17:2).

    2. The total depravity of man

    When Peter speaks of people being 'saved', the implication is that they do not have the ability to save themselves (Rom. 5:12;Eph. 2:1-3).

    3. God's unconditional election

    It is true, Peter does not mention the word 'election' in this passage. But it must be remembered that his mind had not been corrupted by free-will, works religion. To Peter and the rest of the apostles the word 'grace' always included election. They understood that the grace of God is eternal, unmerited and immutable (1 Peter 1:2-5).

    4. Christ's limited atonement

    When Peter speaks of 'grace', he is referring to that grace which comes flowing to sinners from the wounds of the crucified Christ, that grace which was effectually obtained for God's elect when Christ died as their substitute and obtained eternal salvation for them (Heb. 9:12; 1 Peter 1:18-21; 2:24). There are two points about the redemptive work of Christ upon which we must be clear. First, redemption was obtained for a particular people (Isa. 53:8; John 10:11, 15,26). Second, it was effectually accomplished when Christ died (Heb. 9:10;Isa. 53:10-12). Anyone who fails to see the fulness and efficacy of Christ's redemptive work cannot see any other gospel truth clearly.

    5. God's irresistible grace

    Peter said, 'We shall be saved.’ He does not speak of God's saving grace as a possibility, but as a matter of certainty. Salvation is not something God hopes to do. It is something God does (Ps. 65:4; 110:3).

    6. The final perseverance of the saints

    Peter was not in any doubt about what he believed. He knew that salvation is God's work. He knew that it was for ever (Eccles. 3:14). He knew that God's promise (John 10:27-29), his power (1 Peter 1:5) and his immutability (Mal. 3:6) demand the absolute, infallible, eternal security of his elect.

    7. The equality of all believers

    When Peter said, 'We shall be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, even as they,' he seems to imply that the Jewish believers have no preference over the Gentile believers. In Christ all are one! All are saved by grace alone (Col. 3:11).

    This is the confession of every true believer. All who are saved are saved by grace alone and gladly acknowledge it (1 Cor. 15:10). Self-righteous moralists, religious ritualists and profligate sinners must all be saved the same way. Grace is unconditional! It is not attracted by good works and it is not repelled by the lack of good works. Grace washes all believers in the blood of Christ, robes all in the righteousness of Christ and makes all accepted in Christ. Some are more gifted than others, but none is more accepted. Some are more faithful than others, but none is more favoured. Some are more confident than others, but none is more beloved and none is more secure. This is our doctrine: 'We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.'